When Life Hands You Lemons...

      Whoopie Pie and Pizza Pie, courtesy of Susie Cakes and Stone Fire Pizza

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade? Bullshit, friends. My juicer is broken. Life has handed me a bunch of lemons and, as much as I want to, I just can't make a pitcher of juicy, sweet lemonade. I truly believe that things happen for a reason and the speed bumps you hit along the way will only make you appreciate the good things that are just around the bend. Despite my optimistic outlook for the long haul, I get very wrapped up in the here and now. So when life gets me down, I surround myself with good people and hand my sour lemons to a bartender who squeezes them into a stiff round of Lemon Drops.

So Friday night, my boys and I end up going to Crown Bar, this shi shi place that only lets you in if you are a douche bag, on a list, or a douche bag on a list. I don't understand the hype of this place and they violated me (not in a good way) at $12/drink. Harsh. Due to the fact that I met some nice new people, danced to good music (a plus for Crown), and kept the company of three of my faves, I'd chalk the experience up to a 7.5 out of 10. Crown is just west of La Brea on Santa Monica Blvd., walking distance from Jones, Formosa, Lubitsch, and Astro Burger. Valet parking only, which runs about $6-7. Makes much more sense to pre-party and then take a cab. Save yo' dolla dolla bills, y'all. Oh, obvi, we went to Astro after.

Miraculously, the next morning, I rolled my ass out of bed and made it to the 11 a.m. yoga class at the WeHo 24 Hour Fitness. Even though this whole yoga thing is somewhat new to us, my brother and I still gave it a try. The Saturday instructor is Fusako, and she bends in ways I never thought possible. At one point, she balanced her whole body on her arms, and instead of trying to maneuver myself, I found more pleasure in watching the people in front of me fall right on down. Although you get better at yoga the more you go, this lady was so quiet and hard to understand that I had trouble even attempting the positions...or maybe that's due to the fact that I got the spins every time I looked down and couldn't see Fusako past the brim of my baseball cap. The last time we did yoga was at the Sherman Oaks 24 Hour Fitness with two of our good friends, and their instructor, Trevor, was much better. His class flowed and was actually coherent. I would really like to get into yoga for spiritual and calming purposes, although when I workout, I put my mind to it, go for it, get down and break a sweat (where my Saved by the Bell fans at, yo?!). Would definitely try yoga again with a different instructor and without a hangover.

On Saturday, I was graced with the presence of one of my best friends, Keeley. Along with my family, we ate at Stone Fire Pizza for dinner. This place is great! The vibe is a classy sports bar. Good looking crowd and I coincidentally ran into Nick Swardson and some of his friends. If you go for Happy Hour, you get discounts on drinks and pizza. And Stone Fire definitely gets plus points for having Chateau St. Michelle, one of my favorite brands of Riesling. Salads are a decent size. My brother and I started with the candied walnut and fig salad and then went on to share the [clearly Kosher] bacon and pineapple and prosciutto and goat cheese pizzas. The pizzas have a thin, crispy crust (much thinner than NY pizza) and the slices are big at four slices a pie. They also have a vegan pizza for those who don't eat meat or cheese. Pizzas run an average of $15 a pop and salads are around $13. This place is perfect for group dinners and Happy Hour. Parking is street or valet and Stone Fire is walking distance to LA hot spots like The Spanish Kitchen, Koi, The Belmont, and STK.

As mentioned previously, I love my sweets. After I discovered the Farm-e-o, I didn't think anything could compare to its deliciousness. Boy, was I wrong! My dad's girlfriend introduced us to the Susie Cakes version of this sweet treat, a.k.a. Whoopie Pies, just as we arrived at the restaurant. I might have eaten a hefty chunk of the W.P. before my salad, oops. I was gonna eat it at some point! They're veeeery similar to the Farm-e-o, but the actual cookies are softer in the middle and the butter cream filling is a tad sweeter. It's truly a toss-up as to which my palate prefers, although I'll eat both without a doubt. The Whoopie Pies are $5 each, where the Farm-e-o's are around $4 (big difference, I know).

Despite the convenient location of Stone Fire Pizza, we decided to venture to the Village Idiot and Bar Lubitsch, with a side of Los Tacos for our night out. The Village Idiot is a chill spot. It gets pretty packed on the weekends and fills with young professionals. It's a restaurant/bar and the eating area takes up quite a bit of space, leaving little room for standing comfortably.  If you want to sit, you either need to find a seat at the bar, eat at a table, or move to the back where there's much more room to spread out.  There's also a room in back for private parties.  Parking is street or Valet.  We decided to change locales around 11:30, simply because we wanted a change of scenery.  All-in-all, the Village Idiot gets a thumbs up.  

We topped off this fabulous weekend with a trip to Lulu's Cafe, one of my favorite brunch spots.  They have a lot of healthy options and soy milk, soy milk, soy milk!  I love a restaurant with non-dairy alternatives that please my tummy.  I had the baked granola with fresh fruit and soy milk and Keeley and Seth had variations of the two-egg breakfast.  Between the three of us - coffee, tea, and tip included - it came to $15/per person.  I love the ambiance here - open and airy and packed with people enjoying their weekend.  The only drawback is the parking, although I've never had an issue finding a spot on the street; don't even bother parking in the back.  Despite the crowd of people in front, you'll wait no longer than 10 minutes.  

Needless to say, the weekend was a write-off for calories, and I'm not crying myself a river. I'll make it up on Monday.

You Lucky Devil, You!

I'm not a huge fan of the hamburger.  If asked, I'd choose a veggie patty over cow meat any day.  I'm definitely not a vegetarian, although I only opt for the beef when I'm at a barbecue.  Is that weird?  I think it's a little strange.  So when my date (he wanted to be in the picture) suggested Lucky Devils in Hollywood, hyping it up along with LA's gourmet burger craze, I gave in.  He did such a good job at selling the beef that I passed on the veggie patty and scarfed down the Lucky Burger, sans cheese.  We also had Caesar salad, mac n' cheese, sweet potato fries and regular fries.  Hey, don't judge, we didn't eat until 10:30...we were hungry!  I was pleasantly surprised with everything we ordered, although the mac n' cheese wasn't nearly as delicious as my aunt Sherry's.  Decent selection of wine and a vast selection of beer (tons on tap).  A great place to try if you are out and about in Hollywood.  

Saturday night, I ventured to the Hollywood Improv, a seemingly unlikely place to just grab an after dinner drink.  I've only been there for shows, so little did I know I would spend the night schmoozing amongst some of the freshest faces in comedy, like Nick Swardson and Owen Benjamin.  Lucky for me and my obsession with famous people, my date (re: picture above) and his brother are good friends with Nick Swardson.  This guy is hilarious!  He's most commonly known for his roles in "Grandma's Boy" and, my personal fave, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."  We hung out with him the whole night and he even picked up our tab.  So nice!  The bar gets pretty crowded, filling with comedians and their cliques, and you don't need to pay the cover charge if you say you are just going for drinks.  If you're sly, you can slip into a show while the bouncer's not looking.  Don't blame the Hip Chick if you get caught.  

So I'm starting this new diet, if you even want to call it a diet.  I'm basically limiting the crap in my food bank and increasing my intake of veggies and fruit.  As noted in previous posts, I balance my eating with intense, five-day-a-week workouts and, although I'm fierce, I'm still not at my goal weight.  I think that's a flaw one inherits as a woman, or perhaps I'm just too damn hard on myself.  Fortunately, my cousin's fiancee is a nutritionist and she's whipping me into shape on the food front.

Before my exciting trip to Ralphs to revamp my fridge, I hit up the YMCA for my oh-so-favorite Turbo Kick class.  Today, Corrine busted out Round 35, a round completely foreign to my Turbo Kick repertoire.  I have to say, though, this is quite possibly my favorite round to date.  Good music, fun moves, an ass kicking turbo section, and "wicked" final section that will pump anyone up.  If you click on the link for "turbo section," the instructor, Nolan, is the one I loved at the Irvine 24 Hour.  When you click on the "final section" link, be sure to check out the lady in pink.  Most people start off looking uncoordinated like that, although once you understand how Turbo Kick works, you'll begin to look and feel like a pro.  Sadly, though,  some people look like fools no matter how many times they go.  If you lack any shred of coordination, I'm sorry to say, my friends, that Turbo Kick isn't for you.  I mean, you can try it, although don't be surprised if someone (ahem, me) side-kicks you as you move in the opposite direction.  

Day One of Operation Detox is coming to a close and I'm still under by 353 calories.  Not bad, eh?  Let's hope I can keep it up!